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Today in History



Name: Fritz Otto Bernert
Orden Pour le Mérite (Blue Max)
Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class		 Fritz Otto Bernert [Thanks to Carsten Kopke at Arrowsoft Verlag]
Country: Germany
Rank: Oberleutnant
Units: Feldflieger Abteilung 27, 71
KEK Vaux
Jasta 2, 4, 6
Victories: 27
Born: 06 March 1893
Place of Birth: Ratibor, Upper Silesia
Died: 18 October 1918
Place of Death: Ratibor, Upper Silesia
Cemetery: Jerusalem Cemetery, Raciborz/Ratibor Upper Silesia Image
 
 
The son of a Burghermeister, Otto Bernert was in the infantry when the war began. Wounded on several occasions, he eventually transferred to the Fliegertruppe as an observer. The following year, despite the bayonet wound that rendered his left arm useless, Bernert became a pilot. On 24 April 1917, he set a record by shooting down five British aircraft in less than 30 minutes. In June, Bernert became commander of Jasta 2 (Jasta Boelcke) but on 18 August 1917, he was wounded again and his days as a fighting pilot came to an end. Bernert died from influenza the following year.
 
Victories
Date Time Unit Aircraft Opponent Location
1 17 Apr 1916 KEK Vaux   Nieuport  
2 06 Sep 1916 Jasta 4 Halberstadt D Caudron Dompierre
3 11 Sep 1916 1100 Jasta 4   Nieuport Allennes
4 21 Oct 1916 1630 Jasta 4   Caudron Chaulnes
5 09 Nov 1916 1030 Jasta 4   D.H.2 La Sars
6 09 Nov 1916 p.m. Jasta 4   D.H.2 Haplincourt
7 09 Nov 1916 p.m. Jasta 4   F.E.8 (6409) Martinpuich
8 19 Mar 1917 0925 Jasta 2   Sopwith Ecourt-Mory
9 24 Mar 1917 1630 Jasta 2   B.E.2d Pronville
10 01 Apr 1917 1045 Jasta 2   Balloon Villers-au-Fler
11 02 Apr 1917 0830 Jasta 2   Nieuport Queant
12 03 Apr 1917 1910 Jasta 2   Balloon Ervillers
13 03 Apr 1917 1912 Jasta 2   Balloon NW of Bapaume
14 06 Apr 1917 1015 Jasta 2   R.E.8 Roeux
15 07 Apr 1917 1715 Jasta 2   Nieuport Roeux
16 08 Apr 1917 1510 Jasta 2   Bristol F.2a (A3330) Rémy
17 08 Apr 1917 1515 Jasta 2   Nieuport 12 Rémy
18 11 Apr 1917 1230 Jasta 2   F.E.2b Arras
19 11 Apr 1917 1240 Jasta 2   Morane Parasol (A6772) Moreuil
20 24 Apr 1917 0830 Jasta 2   Sopwith 1½ Strutter (A1002) Vaucelles
21 24 Apr 1917 0840 Jasta 2   B.E.2e (7195) E of Joncourt
22 24 Apr 1917 0842 Jasta 2   B.E.2e (A2937) W of Bellincourt
23 24 Apr 1917 0845 Jasta 2   B.E.2e (A2941) W of Boni
24 24 Apr 1917 0850 Jasta 2   D.H.4 (A2149) N of Levergies
25 02 May 1917 0830 Jasta 2   Nieuport S of St. Quentin
26 04 May 1917 1845 Jasta 2   Balloon Vauxtin
27 07 May 1917 1540 Jasta 2   B.E.2e N of St. Quentin
u/c 19 May 1917 1720 Jasta 2   F.E.2b (A5510) Villers Guislaine
Books
Franks, Norman, Frank Bailey and Russell Guest. Above the Lines: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. London: Grub Street, 1993

Treadwell, Terry C. and Alan C. Wood. German Knights of the Air 1914-1918: The Holders of the Orden Pour le Mérite. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1998
 
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